Hartlepool man jailed after sex with girl, 14

Sean Clode, 22, from Hartlepool, has been jailed for six years. Credit: Cleveland Police

A 22-year-old from Hartlepool who groomed, abducted and had sex on a beach with a runaway 14-year-old schoolgirl has been jailed for six years.

Sean Clode continues to influence his victim who five months ago skipped school and travelled hundreds of miles from Northern Scotland to meet the man who befriended her over the internet, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Judge Howard Crowson told unemployed Clode, of Glamis Walk, Hartlepool, the age of consent laws were needed to protect vulnerable teenagers from men like the defendant.